Martin Wins Arrowhead Finale for First National Tour Victory of 2024

COLCORD, OK (September 14, 2024) – Reigning American Sprint Car Series National Tour champion Jason Martin’s title defense has been nothing short of a nightmare – until Friday night at Arrowhead Speedway.

After a season that has included crashes, blown engines, mechanical gremlins and a missed race due to injury, Martin got back in Victory Lane for the first time in 2024 and pocketed $10,000 for his efforts in the Green Country Clash.

“You’ve just got to keep yourself motivated,” Martin said. “You’ve got people around you that support you and keep telling you that you can do it and giving you the confidence and faith that you can keep coming back. I’m probably the hardest on myself of anybody, but you just keep working at it.”

The Feature began with Seth Bergman and Brady Baker sharing the front row, with Baker grabbing the early lead after racing side-by-side with Bergman through the first two laps. Nearly the entire field migrated to the high side in the opening laps and ran single-file before Emilio Hoover and Danny Smith tangled in Turn 4 to bring out the first yellow flag of the race four laps in.

The top two went unchanged on the restart, but behind them Garrett Benson bounced up into the Turn 4 wall while running third, sending his car over and tumbling down the banking into the path of Roger Crockett and Matt Covington. Covington’s damage was light enough to continue without making repairs, but Benson and Crockett were done for the night.

Baker, Bergman and Covington made a beeline to the top once more to lock down the top three spots when the race resumed. Even after catching the rear of the field for the first time, Baker looked unaffected by the traffic as he continued to ride the cushion while maintaining a half-straightaway lead over Bergman.

Five-time Series champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. managed to wrestle the third spot away from Covington but only enjoyed it briefly, as on Lap 22 he jumped the cushion in Turn 4 and pounded the wall. The No. 15H team was able to fix the damage in the work area, but Hafertepe was only able to drive up to 13th by the checkers.

The ensuing restart was a mirror image of each prior one, as Baker instantly went to the cushion with Bergman in tow. But before he could build a gap, Brandon Anderson and Alex Sewell got together in Turns 3 and 4 to necessitate another red flag.

The final restart of the race was when Martin emerged as a contender for the victory. He had driven from 11th to fourth in the first 23 laps of the event and rode the bottom lane to clear Covington for third with six to go. The No. 36 remained on the low side in getting around Bergman two laps later, giving himself four laps to find a way around Baker.

After battling side-by-side for a lap with Baker on top and Martin hugging the tractor tires, Baker’s youth ended up being no match for Martin’s experience, as the Liberal, KS native drove away to the 14th National Tour win of his career.

Martin said he had already written off the 2024 season after all the misfortune he’s been through, but the five-figure payday makes him optimistic about his chances to close out the year in strong fashion and enter the 2025 season on a hot streak.

“Our season’s pretty much screwed,” Martin said. “We’ve had so much dumb stuff happen. I’m already preparing for next year, getting cars, parts and motors freshened and everything’s getting ready to go. We’re going to have an early start, so going to try and get healthy, stay mentally strong and just start 2025 on a different note.”

Although Baker didn’t have enough to hold off Martin in the final run to the finish, his ability to beat a driver of Bergman’s caliber time after time throughout the race solidified his status as a rising star in the Sprint Car universe.

“So many reds, the tires probably glazed over,” Baker said. “I’m proud of my guys, we showed a lot of speed here. My Mom, my Dad, Cash and Brandon, can’t thank them enough, they’ve been working their butts off.”

Bergman conceded that even if he found a way around Baker before the final restart, Martin’s late-race prowess would have likely still been too much to manage. Nevertheless, his third podium in as many nights this week further extended his advantage over Hafertepe to 111 markers with eight full-points events remaining in the season.

“I don’t know if anybody was really going to beat that,” Bergman said regarding Martin’s drive to victory in the closing laps. “I think maybe if I got around Baker, you never know, probably run second if Jason does that again. I tried the bottom early, it was still a little greasy and Baker drove around me, so I kind of abandoned the bottom thinking it was getting thin and slow.

“The run to the end there, Jason, he just found something, made it work, and he drove off and won the race.”

Hank Davis got around Covington late to finish fourth, while the No. 95 settled for fifth.

Andrew Deal started 22nd and passed 13 cars to end the night ninth and clinch the Hard Charger Award.

UP NEXT: The ASCS National Tour will join forces with the USCS for the two-night World Short Track Challenge at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR on Sept. 27-28. Can’t make it? Watch every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 36-Jason Martin[11]; 2. 71-Brady Baker[3]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 4. 2C-Hank Davis[8]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[4]; 6. 1-Sean McClelland[9]; 7. 14-Jordon Mallett[14]; 8. 10-Landon Britt[13]; 9. 15D-Andrew Deal[22]; 10. 16G-Austyn Gossel[12]; 11. 45X-Kyler Johnson[17]; 12. 20-Noah Harris[16]; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 14. 2J-Zach Blurton[21]; 15. 88-Terry Easum[23]; 16. 938-Bradley Fezard[20]; 17. 8-Alex Sewell[18]; 18. 5S-Danny Smith[15]; 19. 2B-Garrett Benson[2]; 20. 11-Roger Crockett[7]; 21. 29-Emilio Hoover[10]; 22. 2W-Whit Gastineau[5]; 23. (DQ) 55B-Brandon Anderson[19]

Crockett Gets First National Tour Win in Four Years at Arrowhead

COLCORD, OK (September 13, 2024) – Roger Crockett made only his second start of the year on the American Sprint Car Series National Tour Friday night at Arrowhead Speedway, but it certainly didn’t look like it.

The Broken Arrow, OK driver took his No. 11 machine to Victory Lane for his second ASCS win in as many weeks following a Sooner Region score at Enid Speedway on Sept. 7, as well as his first National Tour victory since winning the 2020 season finale at Devil’s Bowl Speedway.

“I’m sure people see us win a regional race and think ‘whatever,’ but to back it up and come here and beat the best guys in 360 racing right now feels great,” Crockett said. “I haven’t gotten to do a lot of racing, especially 360 racing the last couple years, but I feel like if I was out on the road with these guys, we would be one of the best. It’s nice to kind of give people a taste of that tonight.”

“The best guys in 360 racing” Crockett referred to were Seth Bergman and Sam Hafertepe Jr., who combine for 14 Series wins on the year and sit 1-2 in points, but finished second and third behind Crockett respectively.

Crockett began to look like a win contender after taking the checkers in the Dash to start on the pole of the main event. A strong start gave him room to jump in front of second-place starter Jordon Mallett on the start and take the top lane through Turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap. Bergman took second away from Mallett while running the bottom before falling behind Crockett on the high side.

Bergman remained on Crockett’s tail through the first eight laps of the race, but the slowed car of Brady Baker on the backstretch brought out the caution before he could make a move.

Hafertepe made the most of the restart by getting around Mallett for third and eyed a move on Bergman before a pileup involving Brekton Crouch, Andrew Deal and Garrett Benson brought out a red flag to put the race on pause.

Another yellow for Alex Sewell’s spin in Turn 3 reset the field once again with 10 laps in the books. On the restart, Hafertepe threw a slider in Turn 1 on Bergman to take over second before Bergman returned the favor in Turn 3, but Hafertepe crossed him over exiting Turn 4 to keep the spot. The shuffling let Hank Davis in on the battle, resulting in a three-way tussle for the runner-up spot.

When things calmed down, Crockett had driven away to a lead of more than three seconds. By the halfway point, Bergman sat comfortably in second and began running down Crockett while Hafertepe and Davis continued trading sliders for third.

The gap between first and second had been cut to one second with eight laps to go when Austyn Gossel slowed to bring out the yellow flag. When the race went back green, Crockett moved down to the middle which gave Bergman an opening to make a move on the cushion.

The two briefly ran side-by-side for the lead down the backstretch, but Crockett quickly shut the door and drove away to his 11th victory on the National Tour.

Any part-time racer can speak to the difficulty of being competitive against those who are in the seat every weekend, but it’s a hill Crockett is willing and able to climb. “The Rocket” finished third in his first start in 2024 with the Series at 81 Speedway and backed that up with his triumph at Arrowhead.

“It’s really hard,” Crockett said. “This is only our third 360 race of the year, only the fourth race in my car this year. And the fourth night we blew the motor up halfway through the main event, so basically no laps.

“We didn’t run the [Knoxville] Nationals for a few reasons, but mainly we were able to work on our car, get it ready to go. Spent all the time in the shop, scales and stuff, so when you do come to the racetrack you know you’re competitive and not out to lunch. That definitely pays off.”

Bergman appeared to match Crockett’s pace at certain points of the race, but ultimately didn’t have enough late in the going. Nevertheless, his runner-up result gives him an 80-point lead in the standings over Hafertepe entering Saturday’s program.

“Late there, it had rubbered down and the top still had some moisture up there,” Bergman said. “So late on that restart, I was like ‘man, I’ll just try to be a hero here.’ Not very often can you run out of the rubber and pass somebody, but we dang near got it done. It was close, but he’s smart and he lane changed and took my line. Had he not done that I think we win the race.”

After two starts at Arrowhead this season, Hafertepe admitted that the Colcord, OK facility isn’t his best track on tour, but the five-time Series champion contended for the win and came home third regardless.

“I like the track a lot,” Hafertepe said. “I think it’s got a lot of potential. I think our operation doesn’t go around here as good as I would like it to. We just need some more track time to figure out a few more things, get a little bit better and we’ll be knocking on the door.”

Davis finished fourth for his fourth-straight top five, while Mallett came home fifth in his first National Tour start in his own No. 14 car since his stint in the No. 55B filling in for Brandon Anderson.

The Hard Charger Award went to Bradley Fezard, who battled engine issues early in the night before starting the Feature with a provisional and driving from 24th to 10th in the 30-lap affair.

UP NEXT: The ASCS National Tour will be back for another night at Arrowhead Speedway on Saturday, with drivers going for a $10,000 top prize in the Green Country Clash finale. Tickets will be available at the gate, while DIRTVision will stream every lap live for those unable to make it to the track.

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett[1]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 4. 2C-Hank Davis[5]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[2]; 6. 1-Sean McClelland[4]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[13]; 8. 29-Emilio Hoover[10]; 9. 36-Jason Martin[12]; 10. 938-Bradley Fezard[24]; 11. 55B-Brandon Anderson[17]; 12. 2W-Whit Gastineau[11]; 13. 20-Noah Harris[15]; 14. 15D-Andrew Deal[9]; 15. 2B-Garrett Benson[7]; 16. 10-Landon Britt[23]; 17. 45X-Kyler Johnson[8]; 18. 88-Terry Easum[18]; 19. 5S-Danny Smith[22]; 20. 16G-Austyn Gossel[21]; 21. 8-Alex Sewell[14]; 22. 2-Brekton Crouch[16]; 23. 2J-Zach Blurton[20]; 24. 31-Casey Wills[25]; 25. 71-Brady Baker[19]